BUY THE SELFHACKED BOOK

BUY THE SELFHACKED BOOK

Cholestyramine (CSM) is a bile acid sequestrant, traditionally used to lower cholesterol. Now it is being used to help with other stubborn health issues. Cholestyramine does not get absorbed in the body and is a great option for helping you to bind and eliminate biotoxins.

What is Cholestyramine?

Cholestyramine (CSM) prevents bile from being reabsorbed into the body, this is what makes it a bile acid sequestrant. Cholestyramine has been used for years without complication for lowering cholesterol levels.

Now it is being used off-label to help with other stubborn health issues including treatment of CIRS and other biotoxin-related illness.

Cholestyramine Snapshot

Cholestyramine Snapshot

Pros

Potently binds to toxins and reduces toxic burden

Good if you’re dealing with chronic infections or toxins

Good for diarrhea

Good for reducing cholesterol

Cons

Decreases thyroid hormones

Doesn’t taste good and can cause a bit of nausea or stomach upset

Hard on the liver

Can cause constipation

Can cause nutrient deficiencies

Can bind to other drugs

The Benefits of Cholestyramine

1) Cholestyramine Helps CIRS and Biotoxin Issues

Cholestyramine is helpful in a few ways. First, it can bind directly to a wide variety of toxins. Second, it can help flush bile and LDL cholesterol out of your system, both of which contain toxins.

a) Cholestyramine Binds Directly to Toxins

Cholestyramine (CSM) has been very successful at lowering inflammation and improving VCS scores (a test used to determine neurotoxicity) for patients with Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (CIRS). There are other binders that have been used with success, but CSM is the only scientifically studied way to eliminate biotoxins from the body.

CSM binds ionophores from a wide variety of biotoxins produced by fungi, cyanobacteria, lyme, and other infections, and excrete them from the body. Some toxins include Psalmotoxin, a spider toxin (R), Caribbean ciguatoxin (R), responsible for Ciguatera fish poisoning (CFP) (R) and Brevetoxin, responsible for neurotoxic shellfish poisoning (NSP) (R).

You can see the polycyclic ethers, surrounded by several double bonds. The CSM fits between, the positive charges attracting the negative charge of the toxins.

However, the most common toxins that can be bound by CSM come from a multitude of toxins produced by mold.

Ochratoxin A, a mycotoxin found in a wide variety of raw and processed foods such as coffee, dried fruits, wine, nuts, beans, bread, and rice, is a potent neurotoxin that can cause chronic effects in kidneys. It is genotoxic (damages DNA) and teratogenic (damages the fetus), and is considered a probable carcinogen. (R) Ochratoxin is another toxin that is bound by taking CSM.

Cholestyramine is almost like a “glue” for biotoxins. It is a long polystyrene chain molecule with side groups of positively charged nitrogen called quaternary ammonium (1.43 Angstroms) (Shoemaker Conference, 2016). The shape and size of the positively charged molecules on the CSM are relatively the same size as many negatively charged biotoxins (at 1.41 Angstroms), making it easy for the CSM to bind to them. Once the biotoxins are bound within the gastrointestinal track, the CSM prevents them from being reabsorbed into the intestines, before finally being excreted in the stool.

Cholestyramine will not be able to bind to every toxin (for instance, the botulinum toxin are too large), but it can bind to a majority of toxins that are relatively similar to its size. Several of the toxins that it can bind to are in the chart below (in red).

b) Cholestyramine Helps Flush Bile

Cholestyramine is composed of positively charged resins that bind to bile acids in the intestine in order to be excreted from the body.

Cholestyramine forms insoluble complexes with the bile, which is then excreted from the body [R].

By lowering bile, which stores toxins, that can also help reduce the toxic burden in the body.

c) Cholestyramine Reduces LDL Cholesterol

Serious infections can trigger sepsis, an inflammatory response throughout the body in response to the presence of bacteria or the byproducts of bacteria (herxheimer reaction) that have been killed by antibiotics.

Sepsis isn’t an active infection, it’s your body’s response to the toxic parts of an infection.

When your body responds aggressively to an infection you will see high temperatures, racing heart, and low blood pressure, which is the case in CIRS as well.

Even if you defeat the infection, your body has a memory that can trigger a response when it finds parts of the toxin in your bloodstream (R).

The parts of the infection (LPS?) that your body recognizes as toxic ride around almost exclusively on LDL cholesterol (R).

Researchers found that the death rate from sepsis went down when they gave people a powerful drug to flush the LDL cholesterol out of their body (R).

Because Cholestyramine lowers bile levels in the body, to even out bile levels, cholesterol in the liver is converted to bile, thus lowering cholesterol levels [R].

Patients that had a daily treatment of cholestyramine had reported levels of 50-80% less cholesterol compared to average control levels [R].

By lowering LDL cholesterol, cholestyramine can lower the toxic burden in your blood.

2) Cholestyramine Can Stop Diarrhea

Bile acid can stimulate the colon and cause diarrhea. However, after cholestyramine makes bile acid insoluble, the bile acid passes through the bowels and does not stimulate the colon, preventing diarrhea from happening [R].

Cholestyramine was found to be one of the most effective drugs to treat diarrhea, with a success rate of more than 70% [R].

3) Cholestyramine Treats Bacterial Infection

Bacteria Clostridium difficile can overgrow in the digestive tract and release toxins that attack the lining of the intestines. It can be treated using Cholestyramine and is used in conjunction with another drug called vancomycin to treat diarrhea and other symptoms related to this bacteria infection [R].

Lyme disease can also be treated by using cholestyramine and atovaquone. It reduces the symptoms of the disease [R].

Cholestyramine can also bind E.coli and its toxins to help prevent diarrhea [R].

4) Cholestyramine Improves Blood Sugar Control in Diabetes Patients

5) Cholestyramine Combats Hyperthyroidism

Patients that do not respond well to conventional therapy for hyperthyroidism can take daily doses of cholestyramine to treat hyperthyroidism and its symptoms [R].

6) Cholestyramine Treats Digoxin Intoxication

Digoxin is a drug used to treat heart failures. Toxic levels of digoxin can cause health problems, and cholestyramine will reduce levels and decrease the performance of digoxin [R].

7) Cholestyramine Prevents Itching

Cholestyramine can be used to stop pruritus or severe itching of the skin, that occurs when someone has liver failure [R].

Cholestyramine used in ointments can be also used to heal diaper rashes in babies [R].

8) Cholestyramine Reduces Pain

When used on patients post-surgery (for patients with hemorrhoids), cholestyramine ointments helped reduce pain by 15%. They also took fewer painkillers than the average patient [R].

9) Cholestyramine Reduces Inflammation

Cholestyramine and mesalazine treatment can be used to treat collagenous colitis, a chronic inflammatory disease of the colon [R].

10) Cholestyramine Treats Anemia

Cholestyramine, coupled with flunarizine and pentoxifylline can help treat spur cell anemia, which is a lack of red blood cells due to alcoholism. This treatment of 3 drugs helped patients recover from anemia and also reduced the number of spur cells in the body [R].

11) Cholestyramine Promotes Gallbladder Health

Cholestyramine is shown to increase emptying of the gallbladder. This prevents gallstones from forming and is good for your health [R].

Cons of Cholestyramine

1) Common Side Effects of Cholestyramine

2) Cholestyramine Reduces Vitamin Absorption

Cholestyramine lowers the levels of Vitamin D and K. In some cases, patients were Vitamin K deficient after long-term usage of cholestyramine [R, R].

You need to supplement with Vitamin K2 if you’re taking cholestyramine.

3) Cholestyramine May Decrease Mineral Levels

Magnesium, Iron, and Zinc levels were found to decrease in rats that underwent cholestyramine diets. They also had increased urinary excretion of calcium and magnesium; however, calcium levels remained normal [R].

4) Cholestyramine Might Cause Liver Damage

High levels of alanine aminotransferase in the blood can lead to liver damage. In a study done on healthy adults, they were given a daily dose of 8g of cholestyramine and their levels of alanine aminotransferase increased by more than three times. This huge increase was also coupled with cell death in the liver, which means that cholestyramine plays a part in liver damage [R].

Using Cholestyramine

Adults usually take 4g of the pure CSM on an empty stomach (1 hour after food) 3-4x a day. It’s best to eat something with fat 30 minutes after taking CSM in order to help stimulate bile. You may also take CSM 30 minutes before a meal.

Make sure to take CSM 3-4 hours away from medication to avoid binding of the medication. For this reason, taking vitamins first thing in the morning is most efficient.

It’s a good idea to check VCS before taking CSM so that you can monitor its decrease as you continue taking CSM. Some will also test MMP9 before taking CSM. You’ll see why in the “What to Expect” section.

Generally, it’s best to mix several binders in water for the best results, such as a scoop of Activated charcoal, Clay, a few caps of Chitosan-micro, 4g of CSM and Magnesium (taking this mixture with magnesium calm at night helps cover the taste of CSM).

You must be able to go to the restroom in order for the binders to have an effect, and the magnesium helps to offset any constipation effect. If you have major gastrointestinal problems, work up your dosage slowly, or as tolerated. For these people, it’s best to take a break after 3 months.

Dr. Shoemaker recommends someone with CIRS take Cholestyramine until their VCS test is normalized. This can sometimes take longer than 3-6 months.

However, because long-term use can occasionally cause slight problems with your liver, it’s usually best to stop at the 3 or 4 mark and continue taking other binders in order to help your liver recover if need be. But toxins in the body can cause a lot of damage to the liver in general, so it’s best to get them OUT as soon as possible.

What to Expect

Some people can begin to see improvement in their VCS tests (a test used to determine neurotoxicity) within a month of taking Cholestyramine. There are also cases of people with CIRS taking CSM and immediately having their symptoms disappear. This is rarer and usually requires a longer length of treatment.

Others may experience what Dr. Shoemaker describes as an “intensification,” meaning a short-term rise in symptoms after taking CSM, which then usually dies down over the next day or few days. If the intensification takes a long time to resolve, it’s best to temporarily stop CSM, then add it back in at a reduced dose of 4g 2x a day.

If the intensification occurs again and lasts a while, you can take an MMP9 test to see if it has increased. If so, this is another clue that treating infections is a good next step before adding CSM back into the picture again.

There is no real data on why this happens, but the theory is that perhaps this is due to an already increased MMP9, or a current Lyme infection (I believe it could also be due to other infections which cannot be targeted directly by CSM and may require treatment in addition to the CSM). In this case, CSM is potentially increasing the release of toxins, causing a temporary spike in cytokines before they are then excreted from the body.

Usually, if MMP9 has increased after an intensification, it is a good idea to take a high dose of fish oil, and stay on an anti-inflammatory, low-lectin, low-tannin diet (you should be on this diet anyway throughout treatment). After 30 days your inflammation levels should be reduced and you may begin taking CSM at the regular dose of 4g, 3-4x a day (as tolerated) dose.

FDA Compliance

The information on this website has not been evaluated by the Food & Drug Administration or any other medical body. We do not aim to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any illness or disease. Information is shared for educational purposes only. You must consult your doctor before acting on any content on this website, especially if you are pregnant, nursing, taking medication, or have a medical condition.

HOW WOULD YOU RATE THIS ARTICLE?

(52 votes, average: 4.21 out of 5)

Loading...

Why did you dislike this article?

Science is not accurate

Not interesting

Not what I was looking for

Not written well

Not thorough

Grammar / Spelling

Too difficult to understand

Titles / Headings are misleading

Other

SHARE

0

TWEET

0

JOE COHEN

CEO, SelfHacked

About Joe

Growing up, Joe was plagued with a myriad of health issues such as gut problems, autoimmune issues, chronic fatigue, brain fog, insomnia, and general inflammation. Both conventional and alternative doctors weren’t able to help him, so he decided to fix himself. With lots of health questions and few satisfying answers, Joe decided to read every research paper he could get his hands on and conduct thousands of experiments on his own body in order to fix his health issues. Joe started SelfHacked in late 2013 when he successfully fixed all of his issues, and now it gets millions of readers a month looking to educate themselves about how they can improve their health. Joe is now a thriving author, speaker, and serial entrepreneur, founding SelfDecode & LabTestAnalyzer.

RELATED ARTICLES

Traditionally referred to as “the elixir of life”, Celastrus paniculatus is used in Ayurvedic medicine to enhance mental function and promote longevity. With no human studies available, its health effects remain elusive. Keep reading to learn more about the possible uses and benefits of this plant along with side effects.

Traditionally referred to as “the elixir of life”, Celastrus paniculatus is used in Ayurvedic medicine to enhance mental function and promote longevity. With no human studies available, its health effects remain elusive. Keep reading to learn more about the possible uses and benefits of this plant along with side effects.

Native Americans cherished and used the bark of slippery elm for thousands of years in traditional medicine. It was taken to relieve sore throats, stomach and bowel inflammation, to heal wounds, urinary tract infections, and even cancer. Read on to find out if you should be using slippery elm, especially if you have IBS or […]

Native Americans cherished and used the bark of slippery elm for thousands of years in traditional medicine. It was taken to relieve sore throats, stomach and bowel inflammation, to heal wounds, urinary tract infections, and even cancer. Read on to find out if you should be using slippery elm, especially if you have IBS or […]

Amylase is an enzyme that helped our ancestors adapt to digesting complex carbs. Low levels have been linked to insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, obesity, and diabetes. High amylase can be due to issues with the salivary glands or the pancreas, which produce this enzyme. Interestingly, your amylase genes can tell if you do better on […]

Amylase is an enzyme that helped our ancestors adapt to digesting complex carbs. Low levels have been linked to insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, obesity, and diabetes. High amylase can be due to issues with the salivary glands or the pancreas, which produce this enzyme. Interestingly, your amylase genes can tell if you do better on […]

INTERESTED IN GOING DEEPER? CHECK OUT SELFDECODE

INTERESTED IN GOING DEEPER? CHECK OUT SELFDECODE

If you have 30 seconds to spare, Please let us know in the box below what issues you had with this article, we work hard to ensure all our articles are of the highest quality and your feedback is highly valued!